Lucid (25 page)

It looked just like a case that would contain some ancient piece of paper at a museum. A circle of what looked like chalk circled around the glass case. The substance I took as chalk, however, glowed with a strange light that gave us the impression that it should not be crossed. It made Viv and Hope, who had ventured farthest in, back away, anyway. The book inside didn't seem any different from the book Iven carried around; the only difference was that instead of the brown leather cover being blank, like Iven's, it had a silver inscription of a wolf that glowed eerily in the dim light
.

I looked at Kyle and Mitch and saw they were also a little disappointed in the book's appearance. The Dreamers, however, were looking at the book like a sacred relic — which I guess it was.

“Our history,” Iven whispered, leaning as far as he could without crossing the protective circle around the display.

“Secrets
.
” Hope nodded, her purple eyes growing very wide
.

“Answers
.
” Viv stepped forward. She took Sophia's key from her pouch. The bronze skeleton key was glinting in the light of the book's logo. “Let us see if w
e are worthy to retrieve them.”

That's when things went wrong
.

Viv took the old key and stepped over the protective barrier around the case. Almost at once, she realized her mistake, but it was too late. A keyhole suddenly appeared at eye-level in front of Viv, blinding all of us with electric blue light. If it weren't for Hope's quick magic wrapping us in a protective layer, we would've been p
ummeled by the explosion that followed. As it was, we still slammed into the stone walls.

I struggled to my feet and kept my eyes shut until the light subsided. As the room dimmed, I saw the others standing up as well
.

“What was that
—
” Kyle was cut off by Iven
.

“Look,” h
e whispered, his glowing eyes fixed on the tall tunnel of a ceiling
.

I looked up, expecting to see the impossibly long stretch of stone. Instead, I had to quickly look down before hyperventilating
.

The Lucid Well had started caving in, trying to crush the intruders. Large hunks of jagged, white stone hovered inches above our heads. There was no way we'd survive something like that.

“How?” I asked, looking around
.

“How indeed.” Mitch nodded to the center of the room, though he still glanced above warily
.

I looked to the case and saw Viv was crouched over Hope. The younger Dreamer was on her knees in a hunched position, though her arms were held up as if she were holding something very heavy. Just as I focused on her, she looked up and made eye contact with me. Her purple irises were glowing twice as bright, and her brows were furrowed in deep concentration. It seemed her spiky hair stuck up more than normal, as if she were full of static energy. Magenta light radiated off of her body and pulsed up to the stones that wanted to crush us
.

“You…” I gasped.

I realized Hope was the one who saved us, not only from the explosion, but also from the impending doom levitating above our heads. I wanted to give her words of encouragement, or even help her somehow
, but my voice stopped working. As I gaped at her, Hope's overly bright eyes remained fixed on me.

“No,” s
he said, her vo
ice strangely magnified. “You.”

“What
?
” Everyone's eyes were now on me. Normally, I would've liked Hope giving me attention, but these circumstances were a little different
.

“Nah, he can't help you.” Kyle stepped in front of me. He was looking at Hope strangely, as if he was afraid of her heroic powers keeping him alive. I had the sneaking suspicion that my brother was showing some protective instincts. “Let Mitch help with his sword. Go ahead and see what happens if you draw it
—
”

“No!” Hope shook her head. Her eyes dimmed a bit, and the stones above us wobbled dangerously
.

Hope gasped and shut her eyes. She held her arms higher, though I saw her slender biceps shaking under some unseen weight. When she reopened her eyes, her irises were bright again and she looked even more focused
.

“Devon, it's you
,
” s
he said in a more strained voice. “You need to use the key. You're the only one who ca
n, and you must do it now. I
—
I can't hold on.” She grunted with effort and the stones rose a bit higher above us, though they wobbled some more
.

“Here.” Viv suddenly appeared by my side. She pressed Sophia's key in my hand. I looked at her and saw her grey eyes, though confused, felt no qualms about putting me in charge.

“But what am I going to do?” I asked in a somewhat whiny voice. I like being helpful but not when my decisions could instantly flatten me and all of my friends
.

“I told you that you were going to have important roles in this world, Devon,” Viv said, cracking a smile despite the tons of stone above her head. “And this was your first test, no? L
et's just hope you don't fail.”

She patted me on the shoulder before pushing me to the edge of the protective circle. Hope was kneeling just beyond the line. If I squinted, I could see where she was holding up a section of the protective spell, as if she were lifting a brighter patch of air just high enough for someone to crouch under to get inside.

I turned back, the key now sweaty in my hand, to see what anyone else had to say on this matter. Iven was nodded his head eagerly, and Kyle was making “go on” hand gestures in my direction while glancing nervously up at the ceiling. So much for my protective, big brother I guess. Mitch had his arms folded, as if he suddenly felt safe. He gave me a grin and the slightest of nods, just like when we were fighting in the
c
oliseum.

Taking a deep breath, I thought about how confident I felt while fighting in the c
oliseum. If I got my powers back, I knew my confidence would grow and I could help get us out of here with the book we needed
.

I just hoped they kicked in fast enough.

Stepping into the protective circle is not something I would recommend to anyone. You think cramming for a midterm is hard? Imagine massive amounts of information entering your head at once. I'd only made it a few steps before the sheer amount of knowledge pushed me back.

I saw things from human civilization that I'd only brushed over in my own history classes. The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, and Rome rushed through my head. I caught glimpses of philosophers like Aristotle and Socrates exchanging knowledge with ancient Dreamers. Then I saw the Nightmares emerge with Roman Caesars and Mongolian warlords backing them up. I caught glimpses of the exodus from Miragean and then the siege of Fantasm. I saw the other tribe slinking away beyond the mountain range, but if I strained on them, my head started pounding suddenly. As it was, catching that much history in a minute already gave me a headache
.

These things are what have passed
.

I wasn't sure if I was the one who thought it or if one of the others shouted to me. Either way, it helped me gain a sense of what was really going on. I pretended I was in a really boring history class, hungry, and waiting for the lunch bell. The impatience I felt in the classroom helped me rip myself from the visions that kept swimming through my head
.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt cold stone hit my right cheek. My breath came pounding back into my lungs, and I panted on the ground for a few minutes
.

“
Come on, Devon
!”

I heard my brother shout, and I sat up quickly. Despite the woozy feeling, I managed to get to my feet. I heard my brother, Mitch, and Viv cheer
.

“Huh?” I stammered, looking at my surroundings. The ancient book in the case had come to life. Streams of passages now swirled above my head, reciting things from history. One passage attacked my face, but I instinctively held my hands up.

To my immense surprise, my ball of light returned full force. I saw my arms in front of me
, and they were now glowing with light and power. Gingerly moving my legs, I could feel the surge of power that I hadn't felt since my time in the c
oliseum. In spite of my current situation, I had to crack a grin. I may not be a reliable hero, but at least I could provide when others needed me
.

“I got this
,
” I shouted to the others before swatting away the attacking blots of history
.

Now that I had control of my powers, moving through the protective circle was easy. I stepped to the glass case with no problem, even though I could feel the Dreamers' ancient power fighting against me. Why hadn't I been ab
le to realize my powers before?

Because humans are, and always will be, weak!

The harsh voice cut through me like a sheet of icy water. I staggered, gasping for breath, and my power flickered. Though I heard the others gasp, I couldn't do anything to prevent it. From where had the voice come? Did the Dreamers believe in ghosts?

“No, Devon!” Hope shouted, turning around as best as she could to face m
e. “Don't listen to the voice!”

“What?” I tried looking at her, but the power of the protective circle closed in around me. I was forced to my knees and used all of my willpower to prevent the floating words from invading my mind again
.

“The Nightmares know we're here!” Hope explained, somehow still keeping the roof from caving in. “And they're using their power to discourage us from attaining the books. I heard them the moment Viv tried unlocking the case!”

“What
?
” Viv looked at Hope angrily. “Are you saying I let Nightmares into Fantasm
?
”

“No, but they also influenced Lucids, remember?” Hope gasped, wincing as she kept one of the lower stones from wobbling any more than it already was. “They're using the new opening in the Lucid Well to thwart our actions. Devon, you have to unlock the case!” She nodded to me, which made me freeze up even more.

You cannot reach the case, the harsh voice whispered in my ear. As if on cue, I fell flat on my face. My power flickered out completely. I heard my friends gasping and shouting, trying to get to me, but I couldn't do anything except focus on breathing. A shadow started banging on the protective spell, and I knew that was Kyle trying to get me to keep on fighting.

What's the point? I found myself asking
.

It was true. Despite fighting, running, and hiding in this world for days, I belonged in my own world. I was a fifteen-
year
-
old boy with a mom and an annoying brother. I would start school in a month, and I needed to prepare for that. How was I supposed to save those enslaved by Leona while liberat
ing an entire race of Dreamers?

It is too much for anyone, the voice agreed in a much softer voice.
No one would blame you for refusing a duty much larger than yourself
.

But I had to get the book, I thought to myself suddenly. If no one else benefited from our quest, at least I could get my friends out of this tower safely and get t
he book in the case. As if I had an energy drink, I was now wide awake
.

“Hey, voice,” I said defiantly, regaining my footing. “You think I'm gonna cave in like this ceiling? Well, watch me!”

Like in the
c
oliseum, I could control my power simply by believing that I had it. A stream of words tried attacking my face, but I merely swatted my hand and my ball of light came to my aid. The words dissolved on impact. I heard cheers from outside the circle letting me know that my friends saw me making progress. I smiled to myself, realizing that I finally got to play the hero
.

The voice kept trying to speak to me, but every time I heard its deep voice, Hope would shout, causing the voice to subside. She was the only other person who knew what was going on inside of the protective circle enclosing us and the book. I needed her in order to get us out safely. Her protective spell was weakening fast, though, and I knew we only had moments before she'd exhaust her power
.

Half-running, half-stumbling while batting away the attacking words, I finally made it to the glass case. I had to shield my eyes from the glowing book and focused on the keyhole shimmering in the crested padlock
.

“Come on, key
.
” I looked at Sophia's prized possession, shining in my sweaty palm. As if on cue, it started glowing like it knew it was about to do its job. This close to the case, the words stopped attacking. In fact, the entire protective area had gone silent, as if it were holding its breath
.